Visit to the Regourdou site: its museum, its park and its live bears

The Regourdou Site is above all a deposit. Located in Montignac-Lascaux, just a few hundred meters from the authentic Caves of Lascaux, it is a site to visit for its diversity and its very friendly, family side. Children and the whole family will have a great time meeting the bears who live in Regourdou, and will appreciate the interesting explanations on the archaeological discoveries of Neanderthal bones through a small museum. In a pretty forest above the town, you will spend some nature time and in season and during school holidays, activities will arouse the curiosity of the youngest.

Photos © Regourdou website

Monsieur Constant, a man, a place and his live bears

The Site du Regourdou (open from February to November, consult the schedules on their sheet) is a unique place in Périgord. It is a place classified as a Historic Monument since 1959, an old farm where extraordinary discoveries were made between 1954 and 1964 by Roger Constant, the owner of the place, a fascinating man whom you will get to know and admire during the visit. The excavations resumed in 2013 and 2014 and will continue to continue in a very strict and controlled framework, to uncover new elements allowing us to know more about the previous captivating discoveries.

You will evolve during your visit in a park, which is only part of the hill, which is entirely classified! In the park, you will discover the first Regourdou site, where the Neanderthal grave and bear remains were discovered. Mr. Constant dug spectacular holes in this place for nearly 40 years, with the strength of his hands, with rudimentary tools and machines, he sorted thousands of m³ of earth to discover these remains but also, on a second site, the chasm, marine fossils from the secondary era and an ocher deposit. Hoping to reach the Lascaux caves, he dedicated his life to this titanic and pugnacious work, out of love for this marvelous site.

The astonishment will be at its height when you meet the brown bears of Regourdou, reintroduced here in 1988 by Monsieur Constant. But why bears at Regourdou? That's because the skeleton of a brown bear was found next to that of a perfectly preserved Neanderthal burial from the Middle Paleolithic. Other bones were exposed and it is believed that these cavities were naturally occupied by bears during periods of hibernation. The initial bears produced offspring, 6 members of the family, joined in 2021 by 3 reintroduced cubs, whom you will have the pleasure of meeting during the visit to the site (4 bears are now on the site: Charly, Noisette, Cassy and Mishka).

A museum dedicated to the discoveries made on the Regourdou site

Mr. Constant's house has been transformed into a museum where the discoveries of the excavations carried out on site by him, as well as those of other archaeologists, are exhibited. Bones, tools, objects of different uses, the almost complete skeleton of Neanderthal man, animal remains (bears and other animals having lived here at different times, allowing us to know more about the settlement of the Vézère Valley), flakes, scrapers, bifaces and points made by our ancestors... The museum will tell you through these objects and remains, the evolution of the tool, used or manufactured by humanity at its dawn.

A family visit, a moment in communion with the past

Guided tours are organized, they last 40 minutes and are often given by Michèle Constant, Mr. Constant's niece or another passionate person, from the Regourdou team. It is a small tourist site which has everything of a big one, where in a family atmosphere, you evolve in a natural environment of great beauty.

Please note that the site is accessible to people with reduced mobility! Depending on the period, you can feed the bears, or attend a feeding session by the site team. The guides are fascinating because they are truly involved in the moving history of this unique site in Périgord. It is the pursuit of a dream that will be counted on to you, the humility of a man who was a farmer by day and who spent his weekends and evenings digging until he discovered a site that is now a reference, which will amaze the little ones. like adults, enthusiasts and novices alike! We advise you to book your visit through the Regourdou website in high season.

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